Erwin g



(No Model.)

B. G. BEGKWITH.

RAILWAY TORPED'O. 7 No. 501,399. Patented July 11, 1893.

, NITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

ERWIN G. BEOKWITH, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

RAILWAY-TO RPEDO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,399, dated July 11, 1893.

Application filed October 12, 1892- fierial No. {48,629. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERWIN G. BECKWITH, of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Torpedoes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway torpedoes, for signaling purposes, and it consists in the construction fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed 'out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to form a railway signal torpedo of a tube with a flattened end or ends, and to make the tube of paper, tin-foil or any similar material which will not fly when exploded to cause injury to persons standing near, and which is simple and exceedingly cheap to make.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1, is a perspective view of my preferred form. Fig. 2, is a modified or double form.

A represents a tube made of paper, tin-foil or any similar soft material which when it explodes will not fly to cause injury by striking persons standing near. As shown in Fig. 1, one end of the tube is flattened to form a wedge or tapered shape end over which a car wheel will readily run. This flattened end is preferably tightly closed bya metal clip B, which may be simply clamped by compression or may be secured by riveting. However,the flattened end may be closed in any desired manner without affecting in any manner my invention. The tube is then filled or partially filled as required with the explosive material, and

the large end of the tube closed with some solid material, preferably a wood plug D, which will readily crush under the pressure of the car wheel. It is necessary that the ends should be tightly closed, in order that a loud explosion may be secured.

This torpedo is fastened to the rail by means of the ordinary soft metal securing strip F, and this strip is attached to the torpedo by means of a tack I, which is driven through the metal band, the tube and into the plug D, thus producing an extremely cheap and harmless torpedo. If desired the tube may be fiattened at each end and then secured by metal clips B, like the clip B of Fig. 1, and in this instance the securing strip may be secured to one or both ends by a rivet or tack, or fastened to the center by means of a transverse rivet.

The tubes are formed by winding the tubes upon a mandrel or spindle, and may be either made in small tubes thelength of the torpedo when finished, or made in long tubes which will then be out into pieces the length of the torpedo, as will be readily understood.

The tubes will be water-proofed in any suitable manner, to prevent dampness affecting the explosive material.

I am aware that railway torpedoes have been heretofore constructed with a metallic base and a paper top, for the purpose of preventing injury to persons near by, but this is expensive, for the reason that both the metallic base and the paper top have to be cutout and then stamped into the proper form.

Atorpedo made according to myinveution, as herein illustrated and described, is cheap to produceand is not composed of any hard parts to fly and cause injury. The solid end plug being made of crushable material, is completely mashed by the weight of the car, and with it the tack is held when the. explosion occurs, so that it does not fly, as has been found to be the case by actual trials.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a railway torpedo having an inclosing shell made of a single piecein the form of a tapered tube, with closed ends, substantially as de scribed.

2. A railway torpedo composed of a tube having a closed flattened end, and a plug in its opposite end.

3. A railway torpedo composed of-a tube having a closed flattened end, and a plug in its opposite end, a fastening strip at the plug end, and a strip securing tack or nail passing through the said strip into the plug.

4. A railway torpedo composed of a tube made wholly of a soft substance as described, both ends of said tube being closed, and one end flattened.

5. As an improved article of manufacture a railway torpedo composed of a single sheet of flexible material, substantially as and for the purpose described, made in the form of a 

